Easter is one of the most religious holidays in Ukraine and traditionally during Lent people do not eat meat, dairy and eggs for 40 days. During Easter mass the churches are lit by hundreds of candles and the mass itself is indescribably beautiful. The Easter basket is filled with all the food forbidden during Lent and waiting to be blessed. Our basket had inside: “Paska” – a traditional sweet Easter bread with raisins, “Pysanky” – decorated hard-boiled eggs, cheese, butter, salt, green onion, “kovbasa” – smoked pork sausage and “Hrin” – grated horseradish mixed with beets, very fierce!
After the service we hurried home to share the blessed food and break the Lent.
The Kat & the Falling Leaves 
Hey Dina, did you find something tasty?
Maybe. But I am not sharing 😛
I still have the Pysanky my grandpa gave me as a kid. I keep them on display year round in my dining room. My Aunty and I drove to our annual ‘blessing of the graves’ last May at Ispas Greek Orthodox Church east of Two Hills, AB….it was the coldest day ever. I remember going with my dad as a kid, with our Paska for my Baba’s grave. We always lit a candle with fruit and a Pysanky…that’s how I collected mine.
What a sweet story!